The Board of Corrections for Military Records once again failed another service member. This systemic failure highlights a troubling trend of neglect and indifference toward those who have stood firm in their convictions and have been retaliated against for it.
Who will right the wrongs this time? War Secretary Pete Hegseth? Under Secretary of War for Personnel and Readiness Anthony Tata? Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink? Anyone?
The bigger question of the day: Why are service members still experiencing negative impacts on their careers due to the military’s now-rescinded 2021 COVID-19 shot mandate? This mandate was rescinded in January 2023 and was later declared “unlawful as implemented” across all departments of the military in May 2025.
The Gateway Pundit spoke to Davis Younts, legal counsel for Major Matt Murphy, who he feels was “railroaded” toward Administrative Separation as a result of his 2021 religious objections to the shot. The retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel and former Judge Advocate General (JAG) officer said his client, a U.S. Space Force officer at the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) in Virginia, had the integrity to do what was right, yet after all these years, it has cost his career.
On June 11, 2026, Murphy was mainly accused of “failing to attend a physical training (PT) session for which he had already faced administrative punishment, despite documented evidence indicating that his attendance was not necessary,” Younts shared. “Coincidentally, the individuals overseeing him were the same ones who attempted to remove him during the COVID pandemic.”
“They’ve made remarks regarding COVID and his religious beliefs, and I firmly believe he is being targeted for issues like missing a PT session, which no officer would typically receive a career-ending Letter of Reprimand for,” he added.
For Younts, this situation raises significant alarms about retaliation. It also brings into question whether the Department of War is genuinely committed to supporting service members who have been coerced, mistreated, and retaliated against regarding the shot.
Murphy admitted to The Gateway Pundit that this journey has been one of the toughest multi-front battles of his 15-year career. In 2020, he and his wife moved to New York to pursue a PhD at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) as part of an Air Force Institute of Technology-Civilian Institution program. In 2021, pregnant with their second child, the family was confronting the draconian measures enforced in the Empire State.
Murphy was barred from the RIT campus due to the institute’s shot mandate policies, which ultimately led to his disenrollment. All the while, he was also engaged in a separate struggle with the Department of the Air Force. With a second child on the way, it was almost too much to bear.
Amid the turmoil and stress, and after the birth of their third child, what mattered most to Murphy was finding “time for peace and quality time with my family during these precious years,” he confessed.
Hellbound and Down 